USA > Ohio > History One hundred and eleventh regiment O. V. I > Part 3
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General Judah was at once relieved of his command, and . General Hascall promoted to the command of the division.
"How sadly were we then reminded that the boom of cannon, the shriek of shell and shot, the sharp crack of the rifle, and the hiss of its leaden messenger, are not alone the discordant noises of war. These are the eruptions, but following, comes the suppressed groans from the surgeon's table, the wild laugh of delerium from the clean, meek looking hospital tents of the field, and far away among the humble farm houses the convulsive sob, the stifled cry, that tells of sorrow as grevious as death itself, "
"Who shall read the records of these ranks which at muster-in, were filled with sturdy strong young men, with step as light as dancers on the fresh waxed floor, now skeletonized by death, sickness and the prison pen ; but, whether fording streams, climbing mountains, swept down by the sheet lightening at the parapet, fighting gangrene in hospital or starvation at Andersonville, always ready to salute their colors with a cheer."
Leaving here the chronological order of events, we may be per- mitted to indulge ourselves in a review of the accomplishments of the western army during the past year. When we crossed the Cumberland Mountains, East Tennessee was in the most deplorable condition of all the South.
Hundreds of her men, women and children, had fled to the mountains and canebrakes. Packs of blood-hounds were put upon their trail, and armed bands of lank long-haired ruffians skirted around their hiding places and shot them down like dogs. For what? Because in their veins ran some of the sturdy blood of Brandy-wine and Valley Forge .- Because their hearts throbbed in sympathy with the sentiment of our grand old revolutionary anthem "The Star Spangled Banner."-Because they drank in with
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the free air of their mountain homes, something of that spirit of justice and freedom, which, from Nahant to the Golden-gate, had baptised all this northland, with a higher and a better life.
Traitors held all the mountain passes which nature had cut, as high-ways to and from this Switzerland of America. Its best citizens dead, in prison, or outlawed; their houses burned, and their corn-fields turned into cavalry corrals.
Well was it said that, "From sequestered sandbanks where the plumed heron fishes in the gray of the morning, from fever stricken cane-brakes and the gloomy fastnesses of forest; from hiding places in the clefts of rocks and the solitude of invisible caves; from the gorges and defiles of the mountains, resting in eternal shadow, there went up to God the despairing cry of a people in their last ex- tremity."
Yet while treason rioted through all the valleys, the grand old mountain peaks stood there as nature made them, loyal; perpetually holding out their granite hands toward us, in mute appeal for aid.
Almost a century before; the inspiration of Plymouth Rock made tea in Boston Harbor, and history at Yorktown. The same inspiration had decended upon 1863, and at all the mountain gates of secession, the granite knuckles of Plymouth Rock were again ringing for admission. Burnside turned the rusty hinges of Cum- berland Gap; and Hooker with his broom of fire swept the rebel warders from the gates at Lookout Mountain.
Then Grant and Sherman, Sheridan and Thomas, the grandest military quartette of all this nineteenth century, struck their tuning forks upon the bald head of Orchard Knob, and gallant Granger passed the keynote down the line. At first the sound waves gently touching field and forest, glancing from the silver fillet bound around the base of Lookout, then for a moment intermitting like a fitful pulse of fever. Meanwhile the pipes of the grand organ glistened in that Wednesday's sunshine like the scimitars of Saladin.
Now swells the inimitable chorus, of 70,000 rifles singing tenor, and fourscore cannon singing bass. It sweeps and swells across the valley, surges up the frowning hillside, and in a grand triumphal outburst, drowned the rebel yell on Mission Ridge.
The Roundhead and the Cavalier had met again, and Plymouth Rock was vindicated.
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Again the refugee lighted the fires of freedom on the mountains, and East Tennessee returned to her traditions.
History records the fact : that at the very supreme moment of victory, a half starved refugee appeared upon the field, and with tears coursing down his smoke-grimed face, grasped the hand of Colonel Harker and said "Thank God for this, I knew you yankees would fight."
When the smoke of Mission Ridge had lifted, there appeared a new star in the military galaxy, and it shone full and fair upon the . shoulder of the man who had become so well known by the sob- riquet of "the silent man on horseback."
And thus the army of the Ohio, at Red Clay, Georgia, was able to present to the Union cause, East Tennessee redeemed, as the first star, in that field of ours, which afterward broadened into a con- stellation.
The western army though deficient in pomp and circumstance- though not thoroughly developed in military discipline-or, as com- pletely subordinate, in matters of detail, as required by army regu- lations, yet Cromwell's Ironsides never showed a keener temper, nor a stouter persistence, when contention reached its last analysis than they. The glowing glory of their belt-buckles was frequently shrowded with travel stains on inspection day, but those belt-buckles fronted forever toward the Southern cross.
The student of history will find some significant facts, respect- ing the forces which our central western army "whipped to a frazzle" when he delves in government statistics.
Taking into account the two armies of Johnston and Pemberton for example, we find by the numerical designations, that Johnston's organizations contained at the outset 184,700 men counting regi- ments at 1,000 each, and other organizations in proportion. That Pemberton's army represented 84,900 counted upon the same basis : but, by checking through the numerical designations of regiments, batteries, etc., we find 30 regiments and one battery common to both, thus requiring a deduction of 30,150, leaving the total of the two armies 236,500. This makes no account of the Confederate forces- in Missouri and Arkansas, and on the Red River, or, at New Orleans, Port Hudson, Mobile, or Pensacola, nor the forces occupy- ing the region in East Tennessee beyond our lines of occupation. It does not account for one-third of the cavalry forces operating in
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conjunction with the two armies named, but counts 147 regiments of infantry, 9 of cavalry, 24 batteries, 2 regiments of Sharpshooters and 11 battalions in Johnston's army.
In Pemberton's army 70 regiments of infantry, 35 batteries, 12 battalions and 5 regiments of cavalry.
In the accounts of both cavalry and artillery, the organizations designated above, appear to be less than one-half of the forces admitted by confederate authorities to have formed a part of those forces.
If we take into account the forces above mentioned as distinct from the two armies mentioned, that is, the armies under Sterling Price, Dick Taylor and others, there were, no doubt, forty regiments in each of the armies in Arkansas and on the Red River, or in the rebel mode of counting 15,000 effectives, in each army.
The other troops mentioned would represent an addition of forty regiments, or organizations representing altogether original musters of 120,000 men. So that, it seems probable that in one way or another, by the casualties of battle, by capture, sickness and desertion, the Western army compelled over 350,000 Confederates to lay down their arms. It will not do for historians to say, upon such unsatis- factory evidence, as rebel reports, that the Union army overwhelm- ed them at all points with superior numbers; manifestly they are trying to make good their anti-bellum boast that "one southerner could whip five yankees at any time or place."
There is no doubt that the Union army was as a whole superior in numbers to the Confederate, but a large fraction of our army was always compelled to guard lines of communication and occupy strategetie points as they were captured.
When Confederate generals hold up 200 regiments, batteries and battalions, and say they represent no more than 50,000 effectives, we beg leave to inquire, what has become of the other 150,000? The war did not last long enough to cause this diminution from old age ; manifestly they went down in all of the many ways in which armies in active service, are usually depleted. The Union army of the north had been subtracting them from the outset. When we search the Confederate reports for lists of killed, wounded, missing and captured in each engagement, and then aggregate those reports, we do not approach the losses which near the close of the war their own figures show in their depleted ranks.
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Historians should record and vigorously maintain the fact, that from the commencement of the slave-holder's conspiracy against the Union, deceit and dissimulation was the only active force, which never retired from the field.
From the highest head of the departments down to the sergeant who called the roll by torchlight, the constant, and unvarying pur- pose seemed to be, to magnify their successes, and stifle all reports of ยท their reverses. This treachery to their own people, might serve a temporary purpose in encouraging new enlistments, but how was it at the muster out? Could the dead men answer "here?" when the mothers of the south at the sad close of the struggle called for the return of their jewels, did the military leaders "deliver the goods ? " Had the facts corresponded with their continuous reports, there ought to have been but few vacant chairs at the home coming !
How did their universal boast of military ability, correspond with the facts, as measured by the records at Shilo, at Knoxville, at Altoona, at Spring Hill, at Franklin ?
Where Union troops were driven in open fighting, on a fair field, it almost universally resulted from a Confederate superiority of numbers at the point of contact. This frequently occurs where large armies meet upon the field of battle. During the Atlanta Campaign our line frequently occupied ten miles of frontage through woods and fields, with a very small proportion of the force in reserve. In such cases a massing of troops upon either side may be driven through the weaker opposing line, and thus score a temporary suc- cess, or, as at Chancellorsville and Chickamauga such a mass of troops may deliver a blow upon a flank, or rear, and drive a portion of the superior force, in confusion from the field; but in both of these cases the Confederates largely out-numbered the Union forces, at the point of contact.
The generalship which permitted the creation of these unequal conditions, I do not seek to defend. The chapter of unavoidable accidents accounts for some of them, and stupid disregard of the means of early information, and most obvious defensive precautions, must account for other.
Our regiment never gave ground under attack, and never stood upon ground where attack was expected, without covering its ranks to some extent, with such protection as its surroundings afforded. The piek and spade ought to be added to the American Coat of Arms.
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After our unsuccessful assault upon the western front of the rebel position, we were ordered to reinforce General Hooker, whose corps was being seriously pressed by a destructive fire on his left flank. We marched rapidly northward over a mile, and when we reached the rear of General Hooker's position, were ordered to form in line and charge.
Johnston finding it impossible to dislodge Hooker from the captured redoubt on the hill-top, by direct assault, had sent a divis- ion to take him in flank. When the rebel yell arose in Hooker's rear, to the eastward, it was answered by our corps emerging from the underbrush, to the westward, with open plantation grounds between ; each charged the other ; the rebel line gave way, and went back into the woods. Hooker's men still held the battery and prisoners they had captured on the hills, and we sent to them our assurance that they should have fair play from that time on. Dur- ing the day a portion of the 16th Corps had crossed the Oostenaula River on a pontoon bridge, threatening to strike the railroad be- tween Resaca and Calhoun and thus break Johnston's line of com- munications. On the night of the 15th the rebels hastily evacuated Resaca and retreated across the river, burning the bridges behind them.
In the morning we entered Resaca. The army of the Cumber- land followed directly after Hardee, who covered Johnston's retreat. The Army of the Tennessee, bearing to the southwest, crossed at Lay's Ferry, while our corps, bearing further to the east, crossed the two streams, which at Resaca form the Oostenaula River, and then turning to the southward converged toward Cassville, at which place we found the Army of the Cumberland engaged in an artillery duel with Johnston's rear gnard. At length we skirmished up to the enemy's entrenchments and in expectation of a battle in the morning, lay in line upon our arms.
During that night Johnston's army quietly left our front, crossed the Etowah River, burning the bridges behind them, and took up a strong position at Altoona Pass, covering the railroad. This new position was quite as strong, naturally, as their original one at Buzzard Roost.
In the meantime General Jeff. C. Davis had been sent with his division down the Oostenaula River to Rome, which he captured with considerable quantities of military stores, and lett a garrison to hold the place. We pushed on to the Etowah River and for three
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days awaited the accumulation of supplies. Then a pontoon bridge was laid across the river, a road-way cut down the bank, and with our regiment in advance, the division crossed to the south side of the river. We were at once deployed as skirmishers, facing Altoona, whose rugged mountain spurs looked grimly down upon us from the southeast. We moved off across fine plantations in the river bottom, and were ordered to take position about one mile from the bridge and cover the crossing of the remainder of the army.
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CHAPTER IV.
OOSTANAULA TO LOST MOUNTAIN.
We advanced our line so as to include a fine plantation house, with its adjacent negro quarters. We all had heard much of South- ern hospitality and some of us had experimental knowledge on the subject, before those misguided people went into the business of stealing government vessels, forts and arms, and repudiating their business obligations with their Northern brethren.
Any one can readily imagine how grieved we were, upon approaching the fine mansion house, that the owner did not come out to meet us, and insist that we should make his home ours, so long as it pleased us to stay. We soon recovered from the surprise, however, and waiving the trifling informality of an invitation, made ourselves at home. The colored overseer was there with the house servants and field hands to the number of fifty or more. Upon inquiry we found it was the old story so well embodied in the popular soldier song, historical of the present, and prophetic as to the future. Of the first stanza of the song I can only recall the first line : .
"O, darkies have you seen ole massa."
. . The second I give you as discriptive, (with slight variation), of the situation :
"He saw de smoke, way down.de ribber . .
Where de Linktum gun-boats lay, And he took his hat and he left berry sudden, And I 'spect he's run'd away.
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Massa run'd, ha-ha, De darkies stayed, ho-ho ! It must be now dat de kingdom's comin' And de year ob jubelo,"
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Our pickets being established for the night, we turned our attention to the business of making ourselves comfortable. The mansion house was thrown open by the servants, under our direc- tion, and we resolved ourselves into about 400 prodigal sons with . appetites honed down to an exceedingly fine edge. Of course prodi- gal sons would be of no account without the fatted calf. According to the ancient precedent we were entitled to a calf apiece, but the old gentleman had been negligent in the matter of providing calves, so, as the army phrase is, we had our rations of veal commuted. Facing the kitchen door, stood the plantation store house. The classic phrase would be that, "it poured its treasure into our laps." We prefer to be accurate rather than classic. There were sacks of coffee in that store house, there were hams and shoulders about enough to fill an army wagon ; there was about a hogshead of sugar, and some syrup of the cane, and those prodigal sons, raised Cain with those supplies the next morning.
I noticed haversacks so full of sugar and coffee that I felt ashamed of the government for having furnished our soldiers with such small haversacks.
The plantation house was superbly furnished. Pier glasses rested upon marble slabs; oil paintings adorned the parlor walls ; great bell glasses covered cunning works of art in wax, ebony and gold. The art of war is a jealous mistress, and very intolerant of any other kind of art.
It was a true philosopher of the South who said that Sherman's destruction of property, was true kindness to the South, because it closed the war and left them their sons, when, if the war had not ended as it did, they would have lost their sons and property together. I never have heard any logical reason given, for putting the creature above the creator, or for that military rule requiring the soldier to carefully protect a man's poultry, and shoot the owner on sight. In military as well as civil affairs, when a rule of action is obnoxious to the average common sense, it drops out of the field of practice and becomes a mere theory.
The next morning we were in motion again, and passing to the westward of Altoona, pushed on southward into that wilderness of thickets, streams and mountains, which was to be the extremest test of physical endurance to which we had ever been subjected. For 72 days, without intermission, we were in line of battle and every day under fire.
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At Red Clay, Georgia, we were ordered to proceed to the work before us, in light marching order, which being interpeted, meant that if a soldier needed anything during the campaign he should carry it himself. The order was literally obeyed by every man in the regiment, so far as I now remember, with the exception of Wm. Curtis, of Co. K, who turned himself into a supply train. When William was not absent, solving some problem of demand and supply, he participated in the fighting with great zeal, especially if there was reasonable grounds to suppose that the rebels were endeavoring to keep him out of a better foraging ground than he then had.
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May 25th the rebel advance line was struck at Pumpkinvine Creek, at which time our corps was on the left of the whole army, and hence nearest Altoona. The sagacious Confederate commander upon learning that our army was pasing his left flank, withdrew from Altoona and threw his whole force across our lines of march. We had an engagement at Burnt Hickory, then at Pumpkinvine Creek, a few miles to the southeast. We struck the enemy in heavy entrenchments in the woods. Our corps was then assigned to the duty of turning Johnston's right flank and reaching the railroad south of Altoona.
For about five miles we moved in line of battle, steadily gaining ground, charging the enemy when he persisted in holding ground, until we reached his right flank. When ir this position with the 23d Michigan and 107th Illinois, of our brigade, in advance, suddenly the rebels charged, broke the line, and were pushing those regiments steadily back through the woods. We had constructed a rail barricade across our front and were standing to arms, when the order was given for us to charge through the retiring lines of these regiments and retake the lost ground. There was no enemy in sight, although their musket balls were pelting our barricades.
:Without a moment's hesitation the line went over the barricade, into. the uuderbrush, through the other regiment's retiring lines and up almost face to face with the oncoming enemy before. we saw them. Our volly broke their line and they went back over a narrow cleared field, and took cover in the woods on the other side. Our line expecting a counter-charge, gathered rails and old logs and hastily formed a slight barricade behind which we maintained our position until the enemy withdrew. The left of the regiment was exposed for a short time to an entilading tire from a portion of the
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HISTORY 111TH REGIMENT
rebel line which over-lapped us as we charged, but taking such shelter as they could behind logs and trees our men soon drove the enemy back to the other side of the field.
Our loss was about fifty men in killed and wounded. The rebel loss was probably greater than ours.
During the engagement, Charles Rump, of Co. H, was struck by a musket ball in the center of the frog of his waist belt, but the tough mass of brass and lead stopped the bullet. After that Rump had no further complaint to make about his waist buckle being too heavy. Rump had a passion for grumbling which he seemed to enjoy as much as a politician enjoys carrying an election, and when he felt the heavy thud of the bullet, he yelled back to the rebel who sent it, "You damt repel, what for you goes for my grakkers ?"
Soon after the engagement was over we were relieved by other troops and our brigade moved on farther to the left and skirmished down into position, connecting with the balance of the army.
We had learned very early in the campaign a lesson, which the eastern army lost many battles and thousands of men in learning, and that was, that when in presence of an enemy the command to halt, was equivalent to a command to intrench. During the cam- paign we never received an attack from which we recoiled a foot, we were never surprised, and soon became so expert in extempor- aneous shooting and barricading, that any life insurance company dealing in military risks, would have been justified in taking us at half-rates.
We proceeded to construct works and in a few hours were pre- pared to receive our "erring southern brethren" at a moment's notice, and that was just about the amount of notice they gave us.
Our line was formed through the dense woods; our barricade built of logs hastily constructed in log-eabin style, the front faced with earth thrown from the inside, and the bushes slashed down for about fifty feet in our front. Suddenly a few scattered shots from our skirmishers was followed by the skirmishers themselves coming in upon us as though they had been sent for from the north on very urgent business. They jumped the works shouting to us "look out, the rebels are coming." The information was like a last week's paper, no news. The hiss of minnie balls passing us had preceded the skirmishers, and we knew what to expect. Hundreds of mis- chievous looking cylinders were looking into the bushes south ward,
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each awaiting a mark. The line of gray could be heard before it was. seen ; rustling the dead leaves of the woods as they came on at a double quick. They were scarcely fifty yards away when we first saw them, but that was enough.
A sheet of flame burst from our guns, the survivors of their line sprang to cover of trees, logs and depressions of ground, and returned our fire. For about fifteen minutes the enemy tried to move us from the works, rushing up to within thirty feet of us, then they suddenly fled leaving their dead and wounded to our care."
Sergeant Henry Landon, of Company C, had shot a rebel but a short distance away from the left of our regiment, and being curious to see where his ball struck, walked out to see his man. This thoughtless exposure was taken advantage of by some rebel who was still hiding farther back in the woods, and who shot the sergeant through the body. The brave fellow walked back within the lines, and was carried to the rear to die.
Our loss in this attack was very light; the rebel loss was con- siderable. Our barricade had been worth the lives of fifty men to us. We advanced our skirmishers to their original positions, and awaited developments.
The rebel line from our front stretched away to the southwest for miles, well planted in heavy intrenchments. Our line was nearly parallel to theirs, and about half a mile away. While in this position in the dead of night, some careless or over timid soldier on picket, fired his gun. Immediately the pickets on each side of the intervening ravine fired at the other, and hastily fled to their main lines. Then down the valley on both sides from regiment to regiment went the clatter of drums, beating the long roll.
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